Challenge-Based Makerspaces
Course
Design Thinking and Design Process [5:22]
- Learn about design thinking and how it is a human-centered approach focused around empathy.
- Learn the steps involved to translate the design process, or engineering design process, into your classroom.
- Learn to incorporate a research and brainstorm elements into your projects to improve their final project.
Let's start with design thinking. Design thinking is a human-centered approach to creative problem solving. A. J. Juliani and John Spencer describe it like this in their book Launch. Design thinking is a way to think about creative work. It starts with empathy, working to really understand the problems people are facing before attempting to create solutions. Empathy is really the keyword when it comes to design thinking.
Other concepts and frameworks for makerspaces can certainly include empathy, but design thinking is the one that really focuses on connecting with others, learning what their problems and concerns are, and then brainstorming to find a solution for their problem. This concept is more focused on the process than the final product. The exact steps of design thinking will vary, depending on which definition you look at.
In general, it starts with identifying the problem, researching to build empathy for those the problem affects, brainstorming a multitude of human-centered solutions, prototyping, improving the design, and being okay with failure. The design process or the engineering design process, as it's also called, is another framework that can be used for problem-solving in makerspaces. This process is a system used by engineers and designers to solve problems. It translates fantastically into the classroom.
As with design thinking, the exact terminology varies from one source and organization to the next. My favorite variation and the one that was used in my school's curriculum is based off of the model found on sciencebuddies.org. The design process works through a series of steps. You start by defining the problem. Then you do background research, you specify the requirements of what your solution needs to have, brainstorm a solution, then you design, build, test, and evaluate your prototypes. You redesign your prototype based off of those tests, share your solution, and then reflect on the process.
I created a worksheet with a variation of the design process for my students. You can find that in the learning support materials. When they're working on a project, I will have one student in the group work to document each of the steps of the process as they work through it. They tend to organically follow this model anyhow, but building that awareness of the process they're using helps them to solidify the concept and connect what they are working on with the industries of engineering and design.
My students understand the engineering design process more. They may even begin to realize that they use the same process in classes and situations outside of the makerspace. Now that we have an understanding of these two design theories, let's look at how we can incorporate them into challenge-based learning in our makerspace. There are so many possibilities out there. Here's a few examples.
You can incorporate a research and brainstorming element into a project before students actually start building. To me, the most natural connection to design thinking in the design process and makerspaces is the research and brainstorming session. Often, once you introduce the design challenge, students are so excited that they want to immediately start tinkering.
Consider having them hold off on that at first in order to research and brainstorm. Sometimes I'll set a timer for 10 minutes. During that time, students can only work on researching an idea for a project or brainstorming possibilities; often by sketching them out on paper or on a whiteboard. Once those 10 minutes are up, students can access materials and start building, or they can continue to work on their brainstorm.
While they often don't like being forced to brainstorm first, they'll usually admit that their project turns out better when they spend some time planning. Many design challenges naturally lend themselves to the empathy component of design thinking. When students are working on project ideas that could affect people, have them interview them to learn more about the problems they face.
Maybe they're designing something to fix a problem in school, or maybe they want to create a piece of furniture for classrooms of a younger grade. Maybe their design involves helping the elderly. If possible, do these interviews in person. If that isn't feasible, connect with others using social media sites or through video conferencing. Learning how to interview and build empathy is a valuable skill for students to develop.
Most students understand and work through the steps of the engineering design process naturally, but it can be useful to help them be more intentional in how they create. Consider teaching a lesson where everything is centered around the design process. Have students document each of their steps along the way. Prompt them when necessary if they're confused about which step they're on. Spend a minute brainstorming ideas for projects you could launch in your makerspace that could incorporate design thinking or the design process. Jot down your ideas.
Providing your students with a design process allows them to follow a step-by-step process for completing their design challenge. Introducing the idea of design thinking into the process also gives your students the ability to develop a deeper understanding of the problem at hand. Review the steps of the design process and reflect on how you can use these to help increase your students' creativity and the value of each step in your next design challenge.
Design thinking is a human-centered approach to creative problem solving that starts with empathy and students understanding the problem before attempting to create a solution. How can you incorporate design thinking into your makerspace? What are some ways to develop empathy in students? See page 10 of the handout in the resources above to jot down your notes.
MLA Citation
"Challenge-Based Makerspaces: Using the Design Process to Get Creative." School Library Connection, April 2021, schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/2263248?learningModuleId=2263194&topicCenterId=2247902.
Entry ID: 2263438
The design process is a framework that can be used in problem-solving in your makerspace and helping students incorporate this process into their projects will help to solidify the concept and connect what they are working on with design. Diana Rendina has created a variation of the design process and provided a worksheet (included in the resources below) to have your students use in their makerspace to document each of the steps as they work through them. Review this worksheet and jot down some ideas on how you can incorporate this worksheet into your next design challenge.
An important point of this lesson is that the exact terminology varies from once source and organization to the next when it comes to the design process. Looking at what is provided in this lesson, do you already have some of these steps in your process, just in different terminology? How successful have those steps been? Reflect on what you are already asking of your students and how the design process laid out in this lesson can improve your next design challenge. See page 10 of the handout in the resources above to jot down your notes.
MLA Citation
"Challenge-Based Makerspaces: Documenting the Design Process." School Library Connection, April 2021, schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/2263248?learningModuleId=2263194&topicCenterId=2247902.
Entry ID: 2263439
Additional Resources
About the Author
MLA Citation
Rendina, Diana L. "Challenge-Based Makerspaces. Design Thinking and Design Process [5:22]." School Library Connection, ABC-CLIO, April 2021, schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/2263248?learningModuleId=2263194&topicCenterId=2247902.
https://schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/2263248?learningModuleId=2263194&topicCenterId=2247902
Entry ID: 2263248